We must never surrender control of our own defence

We must not allow the Government to surrender control of UK defence to the EU as described in its Defence Partnership Paper, warns West Midlands UKIP MEP James Carver.

He said: “The language of the paper appears to be an attempt to deliberately obscure a bid to maintain the status quo, but there are a number of snares which would trap us into integration rather than cooperation.

“Do we really want to have to go cap in hand to Brussels if we want to build a new warship? Do we really want our defence policy controlled by EU federalists?

“Britain is the strongest military power in Europe and in terms of defence, security and intelligence, the EU needs us more than we need it.

“The threats we face are global and we shouldn’t move towards an EU defence union, but rather focus on our role in NATO – an alliance which EU leaders strive to undermine at their people’s peril.

“Former military commander, Colonel Richard Kemp, MBE, who was attached to the Cabinet Office for five years, working for the Joint Intelligence Committee and the national crisis management group, COBR, gives his considered verdict on the paper (see link below).

“I hope Government ministers will take heed – they seem to be floundering downstream from their Whitehall mandarins with few demonstrating much familiarity of the defence policy landscape.”